Bungie hits back at Halo 3 graphics complaints

Halo 3 developer Bungie has come out fighting amid some complaints that the blockbuster FPS, available in the UK now, is simply "Halo 2 in HD".

Speaking in an interview with Pro-G at the launch of the game in London's Waterloo IMAX cinema last night, Lee Wilson, cinematic designer at Bungie Studios said the team was delighted with the graphics in Halo 3.

That's the plain truth. Its no graphics whore -in fact GeOW out does it IMO.

But the combination of gameplay, storyline, past Halo following & MS hype make it big again. Its clearly just an evolutionary product of its predecessor & not revolutionary. That's why it is the last in the trilogy. Bungie realise they have done all they can with it.

...Bungie have always said that Halo was aimed to look like a comic, that was the original Concept by the Artist's and in Halo 3 they have finally got their initial conception that was designed pre-halo.

This has been confirmed by the Original Concept Artists, Google knows all.

First, Halo 3 murders Halo 2 in the graphics department. The art style is the same and that's it. The graphics quality is made even more apparent when watching save films. Anyone that says Halo 3 is graphically bad either doesn't have the game or is simply a hater.

Calling Halo 3, Halo 2 HD is the dumbest thing I've heard in a good while.

This very game has been given 10 out of 10 at many if not all the review sites, yet once we get it into our hands, we are seeing yesterdays graphics. Games that look better are not given a 10 in graphics...what makes this game deserve it?

Yes, it is a beautiful game.

Yes, it does play very soothly. (for the most part, I have ran into a couple of stutters here and there)

No, I would not have given it a 10 out of 10. The review sites let me down and now I have to question all the games I did not purchase because "they" said it wasn't worth it.

ok i can honestly say the graphics dont blow you away at first, but its the small things that impress me with halo 3 the lighting is stunning, textures are also verry nice and i love the art style, its somthing different from gears and it makes a nice change

people can say what they want about this game, it doesnt stop it being top quality, im having a great time playing the story mode and cant help but be blown away every time a scarab crawls onto the battlefeild

think resistance FOM, the character look far better in halo 3, so do the textures lighting and the gameplay is a million times better, RFOM was a great game though and people need to realise halo 3 doesnt look bad, its actually verry pretty

being the most antisipated game this year obviously makes it a target for all the haters out there

people are saying "oh it's the art style that makes it look that way". Wrong because Rachet and Clank: TOD is proof that you can still have a cartoony look and have an amazing looking game. Halo 3 is just not there graphically and it really hurt this game that could have been amazing. Bungie has been working on this game for years and it's ashame that ps3 launch title(Resistance) blows this away.

I personally feel that Halo 3 looks good, but it is NOT as good looking compared to other games on the market. Hell, even Perfect Dark Zero looks better I think. And it has that "comic" style to it also.

But it DOES look better than Halo 2 in HD. Even me, a self proclaimed Halo sceptic thinks it looks better than Halo 2 in HD.

To many eye candy whores in the world today sadly. The sum of all parts are what make games great. In a similar way would Jaws of had the same impact without John Williams classic score? Im going to pick my copy of Halo up now and am very much looking forward to playing it. Played the 1st but not the second so i will probably read up on the 2nd unless one of you want to clear up what happened in the 2nd? hehe.

It is funny how people think the NEXT-GEN is all about GFX, maybe it is, but to me it is more like experiencing incredible game play and superior AI and multiplayer mayhem or great storyline and action. There are some truly great looking games out that lack the game play totally. Halo3 is made of pure win what comes to the game itself. What comes to GFX, it might not look like Gears of War, but hey it is HALO not Gears.

ps. I bet most people here can't even watch old black and white movies anymore.

I don't think anybody is complaining about the art direction or the water effects. but the main issue about the graphics is really what's up with all the aliasing? There's aliasing left and right with jaggies running amuck. I wanna shoot at brutes, not jaggies!

And what kind of stupid company is going to basically say "oh well, you guys are complaining about graphics? well noooooooooo WE HERE AT BUNGIE think they are good, so they are good! Now shut up with the complaints because we like it. It doesn't matter if you don't, we do and that's all that matters"

the graphics are better then halo 2 graphics,h*ll just look at halo 2 and 3 side by side and tell me it's the same.the facts are that sony and sony fanboys are doing every thing they can to try and close the flood gates that microsoft open up on the ps3 with halo 3.just last month an employee of sony went on the win site and changed some good halo3 ratings into bad ones that said halo3 wasn't any good and this is a fact,as of right now they traced where it came from and from what i understand the person that hacked into the site worked for sony some where overseas but i forgot where and they are still investigating to find out who actually hacked the site. sony and it's fanboys could lie and talk trash all they want because sony must be really worried to already made a statement that halo 3 was the only game that microsoft have,and this comes from a company that their game system(the ps3) doesn't even have any AAA games and all people are doing is watching movies so if you want to watch br movies get a ps3 but if you want to play games get a 360 because the ps3 game list can't even compare to the 360 list.the sony fanboys are all over the net saying lies and crape about the 360 and especialy halo 3 because they are jealouse that the ps3 doesn't have it,they don't even have a game that can compare to halo and it's sale figure,h*ll sony never did have a game like halo.so if they were not worry like they claim then they wouldn't be all over the net posting all kinds of crap,and if halo3 was on the ps3 all you would hear from sony fanboys is how great the game is instead of how they hate it and it's over rated and that they would never buy it,just like they did with oblivian,they said that it was over rated and they don't understand why people like to play it,but when it was ported over to the ps3 then all of a sudden the same game that they were critisizing was all of a sudden a great game and people must buy it.i even read 1 post where a sony fanboy was telling all the people that have a ps3 need to buy lair to help sony out and to show that critics don't know what they are talking about,well i will never buy a game for any system if i didn't like it and it was crap like lair. some sony fanboys are claiming that the people that rate games are out to get sony because they gave lair a bad review well maybe the game is crap,even the creator of the game made an apology to the people for lair,but the funny thing is that when the same critics give a bad review for a 360 game then all of a sudden they know what they are doing but if they give a 360 game a good review they don't know what they are doing and they are out to hurt sony.if you listen to the sony fanboys real close you will see that they think that the ps3 is god and every thing on it should get a perfect score,but the treuth is that the ps3 only have 1 damn good game on it now and the rest is crap and the 360 have a lot of good ones and they can't stand it and it's killing them so they go on the web and post crap and lies and try to get people to belive them but it's not working

gameplay and visually is 90% the same thing, damn i even swear i played an old map from Halo 2 last night...i was like WTF!!! LOL!!! still fun though till the stupid kids start finding ways to cheat...

Yes, the graphics are not jaw dropping but they certainly aren't Halo 2 in HD. I play on my 61" at 720p and the game looks great. I've not noticed jaggies but I do notice some fairly flat looking ground textures. But things like the grass moving and if you brush up against bushes they move, the little stuff like that makes up for some of the flatness. The game felt like a Halo game and that's just what I wanted.

There are too many Unreal 3 engine games out and it is a nice change. Bungie certainly doesn't need to defend this game, the reviews are raving about it..

Razer, dude you must be blind - there is jaggies all over the place just look at any straight line, yes lighting and most textures are amazing but the jaggies take away from the experience as they are VERY visible. Multiplayer is even worse - looks like PS2 game sometimes. Pretty lame to have such allising issues in first party AAA title that they claim has been honed to perfection.

Show me ANOTHER game, despite halo3, that have: - same graphic engine in two different generation consoles; - that have 9-10 hours singleplayer (any game with multiplayer is infinite...) - that is same all of the same; - doesn't bring anything new to the type of game (FPS)(unlike bioshock); - that have a lot of framerate issues; - that have a tottally non-sense game story; - the multiplayer is nothing memorable like half life 2 or UT game; (all this statements were based reading the numerous reviews...) ...and than have 9-10/10 (90-100%) of review rating!!!

fanboys make me laugh, they jump all over games like killzone saying it looks crap and the usual halos 3 > killzone, 'ha look at the jaggies on ps3' etc etc.... and now halo is critisied for its graphics suddenly its all 'it isnt all about graphics' 'ok the graphics arent great but.... but...'

lets just except while halo is a great game its not everything it was hyped up to be, games never are, im suprised people still allow it to get to them. im my opinion halos down fall was its previous success, M$/bungie where to worried to change anything to much as they must have been worried about lossing their following. i personally now look forward to completely new IP's, its a new fresh experience that 'series' games just cant offer.

Anyone who truly played the game will know it does not suck, unless of course they don't like FPS games, which begs the question...Why did you even post here?

The game is great and only the devout Sony boys and girls will dissagree, my issue is this game was so hyped up that even the reviewers did not do their job! "The game is nothing new"...so? It wasn't supposed to be, it is the completion of a trilogy with updated graphics and physics. Did it deserve the 9/10 and 10/10 reviews...NO! As I stated in my first comment, I give it a 8.5/10.

And before you start saying I need to upgrade my TV to get the full visual of the game...I have a JVC HD56FN97.

You've all heard the saying 'Don't judge a book by its cover' well,Halo 3 is a case in point.If you wanna spend your time looking at the not so glossy cover rather than read the story, that's your choice.For most of us however, the immersive story is why we buy the book in the first place, not the irrelevance of the cover.So, do you want to sit and LOOK at a video game or PLAY it?If you become immersed in the story, the graphics will transform into a 'living world' not a set of pixels or textures, thats just how it works. 'Willing suspension of disbelief'applys equally to good video games,i think.

EDIT: Really guy's, how can you disagree with DAXX @21. It's his opinion.C'mon, at least be constructive!

It doesn't over power the gameplay so you're not all wrapped up with the narrative.. But if you read the books and dig into the Halo universe a bit it's actually a great sci-fi story.. Maybe when the film comes out people will understand it better..

And didnt Bungie say that there was going to be a graphical upgrade from the Beta to the retail version??? the game looks exactly the same it did back in March...you know what?? i didnt even noticed that many jaggies back then...

To all the dumbass sony fangirls b!tching about halo3 lets get the FACTS straight:-

1. For everyone one of you jealous retards that b!tches about halo3 theres a million more gamers out there who loves halo3, the sales and reviews says it all b!tches,m FACT!!!.

2.Your dumbass COMMENTS isnt going to make a difference, halo3 will sell millions and millions, MS and bungi are going to be making alot of money off halo3, FACT!!!

3.After your so called ps3 AAA games such as MGS4 and killzone 2 has beenb released and forgotten, millions of gamers will still be playing halo3, FACT!!!, wheres HS and lair???? already forgotten!!!

So you see it doesnt matter how much you sony fangirls b!tch about halo3, you and sony will not stop halo3 from being one of the most suceessful games of all time...FACT!!! Could you imagine killzone 2 or MGS4 or any ps3 games generating this much worldwide hype...NO? me neither.

Get over it b!tches

[email protected] chanto23: why would a low life like you upset me LOL this is the internet fool i come across millions of homo geeks like your self everyday dude i laugh at people like you LOL, you ever heard of girls? you should get out and trying get some girls instead of living your lives in PS HOME LOL you sad loser!!!

This is why people like you make this game way bigger than what it is. Halo fanboyz are like zombies, there still obsessed over the first one, thinking there next savior will bring them there happiness back but it didn't so they believe in there own lie's and think this one will be fun. Halo is this generation of Star War but the difference between Star Wars and Halo is Halo will be gone in the future and nobody wont care about it. LOLOLOLOLOLOL

We now understand why CG only has 2 bubbles. CG, before ripping on Chanto23 for no reason except trying to defend your point of view, try looking in the mirror, put down your sock and go outside and play in the street. Thanks for bringing the rest of us 360 owners down a notch with your worthless dribblings.

And why is it that you think that anything you wrote would be confused as a contributing factor to this posting? Oh wait, you can't answer because you only have two bubbles...sorry.

I suppose you did bring up one valid point, MS did sell a ton of this game, but that is fine with me, it IS a great game. I suppose you think that any comment that is not hearlding the beauty of the game is from a PS3 fanatic and is a instant attack on the 360? Are your opinions of the 360 so shallow that you think anyone that says anything bad about this one game is going to cause a mass migration to the Sony way of life?

It doesn't help Bungie with Microsoft's rival platform, Sony, have raised the bar in terms of visuals for their flagship titles. Similar was expected for the juggernaut of Halo 3. I think that general disappointment is what is fuelling the complaints about the graphics.

It's simply because people are comparing Halo 3 to other games. And why shouldn't they? They compared GeOW to KillZone 2.

Halo 2 in HD. BUT, Is it not fun? Starting the campaign out, the first trees look horrible as the camera comes down. THe characters look..... Shiney, but slightly better than average in scope of what we have seen from Next gen games (Poly count specifically). The issue here is to make the game in this scope and magnitude, some sacrifices had to be made to fit in the 9GB allocated to 1 disk. If the game had been made to meet the graphical expectations set by Gears, It would not be able to fit on 1 disk, Run at 1080P or handle 16 players online. Watch the scene where Commander Keyes walks down the steps the first time she is in the story. She's not on the steps, she is gliding in the air over a smoothe slope ablove the steps. Bungie, get 1 thing clear, Halo 3 is not mind blowing in the magnitude the hype has been built up to. It is great fun though, has a great story and control. I'm happy with my purchase, Story, gameplay and friends play with me online. But the graphics do not blow you away. I have not seen a point where I was placed in awe at the scope of what was on my screen. It feels closer to Halo 1 in control IMO, which is a great thing. Halo 2 felt loose to me.

if they were not trying to capture the "realistic" feel, then WHY do they have commercials(museum commercial?)that is talking about the war in halo as if it were real? then when you see the game you get a "vibrant and colorful world". not a gritty, violent warzone.

"We think it's a beautiful game at Bungie. Folks who have complained about the graphics in the large part have said 'I don't like the way it looks' then they pick it up and they play it for half-an-hour and then four hours later they're still playing and that's the last time you hear them saying anything about the game."

Absolutely could NOT agree more with this statement. I was like "meh" at first and over time it crept up on me and I started noticing the way the water moves, the amazing way the light shines off of everything, the amount of detail on the ground, hell walking out of caves and into light is blinding at points. I honestly don't see why people complain about this game's graphics that much. I love how it looks and I love they went for MASSIVE areas to battle in and I love how massive the battles are. Example of some of the combat: MC, Arbiter, like 4-5 other guys going up against 20-30 enemies at once while everyone is throwing bombs, shield grenades, snipers are sniping, gunners are up on hills, people are up on platforms in the air shooting at you, enemy ships are firing at you, brute choppers are driving around and some ship that practically kills you in one shot. It's truly a sight to behold and that's only on heroic! Like Half way through the game! The scale only gets larger. The only game that even remotely compares is Heavenly Sword.

The graphics are great. Some of these mealy mouth people need to shut up and try playing the game. I have already finished the game on Heroic and am going thru again while I also spend hours and hours in Multiplayer. The graphics are next gen and these HALO haters need to give it a rest. If that is all you have time for in life, complaining about graphics, then just die already.

There was an excellent article recently showing what happens to HALO 3 when you add more grey tones and subdue the color somewhat. It looks better than GEARS. Personally I can see that with the color but some people neeed to be handheld. The character faces do not reach the GEARS level but they are great. The environments in HALO rule over GEARS like a mad dictator. The rest of the game beats other shooters with ease.

It's no where near Halo 2 in HD, the cut-scenes looks better than Gears of War in my opinion and in real-time. THere are hardly any jaggies that I can see. The water is awesome, the explosions, the textures, especially the tree textures better than call of juarez. Call me impressed, it is better than I thought they would be.